Monday, January 31, 2011

Sexiest Woman of Asia: A Fit femme fatale

With an enviable body and a desirable aura, the 'Sexiest Woman of Asia' couldn't get better than this. The poster child for fitness in Bollywood, Bipasha Basu, drops in some health and fitness tips in a conversation with Spriha Srivastava.

Modeling by chance!I was planning to pursue medicine and modelling happened by accident. I was waiting for my results of board examination and I used to frequent Park Hotel with my friend. I had gone for lunch once and that time the preliminary round of the supermodel contest was taking place.

That's when they asked me if I would want to participate. They asked me to fill a form and just for the fun of it, I did that. Then I got a call and I was selected among 100 girls. I had then forgotten about it and one day my parents got a call that your daughter has been selected for the finals and she has to come for a month. I convinced my parents because I was having holidays anyway. My dad wanted me to pursue academics because I was very good in studies. My mother has always been very flexible. It was a paid trip and we had to do nothing. So I went for it, won it and that's when I decided that I like this independent life and I'd like to continue it. I intended to settle down in New York earlier. With this, medicine took a backseat.

The drift to be fit'I was a complete lazy ass! You know, my parents never encouraged me for sports as a kid because I was a big bookworm. I hated anything that sounded active. So all I did was model, eat and live a very comfortable life. I was not very lean. I had a nice puppy-fat face. You know it was my face that got me a lot of work in modeling because I had a chubby face. When I started acting, life was not very comfortable because that involved long working hours, like 18 hours a day without any break. That's when my health started deteriorating. I was falling sick almost every day! When one is younger, one's metabolic rate is high. It's only when you grow old, you have to work hard on your body. This goes for both men and women. I became unhealthy with the business of Bollywood because I was eating just anything and everything that was available on the sets. I wasn't exercising. I wasn't sleeping well. And I was working very unhealthy number of hours. I guess there's an alarm clock in everyone that rings and tells one that you're not healthy and it's time you do something about it. That happened to me. So no matter how good your genes are or how healthy you are, if you start leading an unhealthy life, it will catch up on you.

Modelling and malnourishment'There was a time when models would not be very skinny. When I had started modelling, I did not see such lean girls in the business. I think this skinny thing has come into fashion very recently. I never had to starve and I haven't seen any of the models starve when I did modelling. It's sad to notice, but now models starve to get all the possible flesh out of their body. I'd say it's not healthy because ultimately you'd feel weak because of not eating and working for those long hours. When I look at these models today, it feels like some clothes have been put on a hanger!

Is John an influence to stay fit?Oh no, not at all! You know, people have this wrong notion that John is a fitness freak and that John has turned me into one. Let me tell you that it's all my effort. John is equally lazy, but yes he does pay a lot of attention to his health. And so do I. I think it's more important to be healthy than to be fit. And John doesn't push me to work out. He, in fact, says that he likes me however I am'thin or fat'however.

Eat healthy, live healthyI usually do a lot of cardio and I try to work out four days in a week. I have really toned up my body for my fitness video, but I didn't exert myself to get into that shape. During the time when I'm shooting and I'm outdoors, fitting in workouts in the schedule becomes a little difficult. But otherwise, I'm very regular and disciplined. I love to eat and I'm not very choosy. So I'd say that those who're a foodie, should not quit eating, but just control their diet. Eat the right food. Also, I've seen that a lot of people concentrate more on their bodies'the shape of the body' but forget about being healthy. I don't have a body fixation but I want to be healthy and that's what I concentrate on. Having a great body and having a healthy body are two different things. My video also promotes health. So eating right, exercising and a good sleep are the essentials of a healthy and fit body.

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IIPM is a Best B-School. It is a institute of business management. Its full name is The Indian Institute of Planning and Management. Founded in 1973, The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) has grown to become one of the most respected business schools in South Asia.